A Close Look Into The Rubbish City | Welcome To Lagos | Part 1 | Documentary Central

Summary

In the vibrant and bustling city of Lagos, Nigeria, a unique subculture thrives amidst the filth and chaos of the Olusan Rubbish Dump. This documentary explores the lives of the scavengers who make a living from recycling tons of waste, showcasing their resilience, resourcefulness, and entrepreneurial spirit. It highlights the stark contrast between the perceived corruption and poverty of Lagos and the innovative ways in which its inhabitants turn adversity into opportunity. The documentary also delves into personal stories, like Eric, a scavenger and aspiring musician, and Joseph, a scrap dealer, shedding light on the vibrant community life and the challenges faced by those living on the margins.

Highlights

• Lagos has evolved into a mega city with a complex, vibrant urban ecosystem 🌆.
• The Olusan Rubbish Dump is a city within a city, providing jobs and community for many 🗑️.
• Scavengers, like Eric, earn living from waste, dreaming of a better future 🌟.
• Joseph, a savvy scrap dealer, embodies the skill and resilience of Lagos entrepreneurs 📈.
• Power outages and systemic issues are part of daily life, yet people persevere ⚡.

Key Takeaways

• Lagos is a mega city thriving on the hustle and creativity of its residents 💪🏿.
• Despite its reputation for chaos, there's a thriving recycling industry at the Olusan Rubbish Dump ♻️.
• Resourcefulness and adaptability are key themes as residents turn waste into livelihood 🌟.
• Community and entrepreneurship go hand in hand in this vibrant city life 🤝.
• Unique stories of individuals like Eric, an aspiring musician, reflect the spirit of Lagos 🎶.

Overview

Welcome to Lagos, Nigeria's sprawling metropolis, where over 16 million people navigate through its vibrant streets and complex systems. Amidst the urban sprawl lies the Olusan Rubbish Dump - a community within a community where thousands find employment and livelihood in recycling waste. This documentary unveils the unseen world of the dump, highlighting the resilience and ingenuity that defines life in Lagos.

At the heart of this micro-city are individuals like Eric and Joseph, who exemplify Lagos's indomitable spirit. Eric, a scavenger by day and an aspiring musician by night, hustles to turn trash into cash, all while chasing his dream to release a music album. Joseph, a savvy scrap buyer, navigates the fluctuating economy of scrap dealing, turning discarded metals into family security. Their stories reveal the vibrant heartbeat of Lagos beneath its chaotic surface.

While challenges abound, from frequent power outages to the socio-economic disparities, the documentary paints a hopeful picture of Lagos. It’s a city where survival fuels innovation, and communities come together against the odds. From the Olusan Rubbish Dump to lively ghetto streets, Lagos showcases the unstoppable force of human resilience, creativity, and spirit.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 10:00: Introduction to Lagos as a Mega City The chapter introduces Lagos as a mega city, emphasizing the global trend of urbanization. It highlights the fact that more than half of the world's population now lives in cities, marking a significant shift in human settlement patterns. This transformation into an urban species is noted as a fundamental change in human living conditions.
• 10:00 - 24:00: Olasan Rubbish Dump This chapter introduces Lagos, Nigeria's largest city, highlighting its transformation into a mega city. Sixty years ago, the population was under 300,000, with people commonly calling the city gorgeous. However, with a current population of around 16 million, perceptions have changed.
• 24:00 - 33:00: Joseph's Life and Business The chapter 'Joseph's Life and Business' begins by acknowledging the challenges and 'Growing Pains' that come with living in Lagos, a city often associated with corruption and poverty. However, the narrative counters this stereotype by highlighting the resilience and ingenuity of its people. Despite the hurdles, the people in Lagos demonstrate resourcefulness and a unique hustle, thriving amidst the challenges. The chapter suggests a dual picture of the city, one that encompasses both its difficulties and its vibrant, enterprising spirit.
• 33:00 - 43:00: Challenges of Lagos Lagos, as a city, presents numerous challenges but also opportunities. The population is seen to be adapting effectively to the intense urban environment, perhaps even more successfully than populations in developed nations. This adaptability suggests a proactive engagement with the city's unique urban future.
• 43:00 - 54:00: Eric's Music Venture The chapter titled 'Eric's Music Venture' begins by highlighting the unique and admirable qualities of the local people. It introduces a less aesthetically pleasing area of the city known as 'olasan rubbish D', which is notorious for its unpleasant smell and appearance. Despite these unfavorable characteristics, the chapter emphasizes the innovative spirit of the locals known as the Scavengers, who are able to transform what others see as filth and rubbish into a means of making a living.
• 54:00 - 69:00: The Cattle Market In the chapter titled 'The Cattle Market', the discussion centers on a society where recycling is an integral part of daily life. Unlike in the Western world, where waste management solutions are often hotly debated, this society has a straightforward approach to recycling. Everything that can be reused is collected and prepared for reprocessing. This operation is impressive in its scale, with 3,000 tons of waste being sorted daily by hand, providing jobs for over 5,000 individuals.
• 69:00 - 78:00: Gabriel's Blood Processing Business The chapter titled 'Gabriel's Blood Processing Business' begins with an introduction by Eric, also known as Voca Slender, from Lagos, Nigeria. The setting is a dumpsite where scavengers are actively following a bus to pick and select scrap materials from the refuse. The narrative implies a sense of urgency and purpose as the speaker prepares to join the scavengers and engage in the selection process. The chapter sets a vivid scene of the environment and the activities taking place.
• 78:00 - 91:00: Social Dynamics and Challenges The chapter 'Social Dynamics and Challenges' introduces Eric, who was born in Lagos and is currently 28 years old. While he grew up on the streets and works as a scavenger on a dump site, he holds ambitions that go beyond his current circumstances. Despite his appearance, Eric is a talented singer and musician. His primary goal is to complete his WB CD, and he devotes all the money he earns from scavenging towards this dream. Each piece of scrap he collects brings him one step closer to achieving his ambition of becoming a major recording artist.
• 91:00 - 97:00: Eric's Legal Troubles and Resolution In this chapter titled 'Eric's Legal Troubles and Resolution', Eric discusses his progress towards a goal, mentioning that he possesses an expensive perfume container worth 10 Na. He notes seeing another one, leading to a reflection on the weight of his bag. The chapter encapsulates a moment where Eric balances his desires and the practicalities of carrying his possessions.
• 97:00 - 99:00: Closing and Forward Look The narrator expresses a strong need to work hard this week to earn money primarily for personal purposes. They require funds to visit a studio to mix their song, which they plan to promote. Additionally, they need money for a photoshoot and to purchase a couple of T-shirts for the shoot, highlighting the urgency and importance of their financial needs.

A Close Look Into The Rubbish City | Welcome To Lagos | Part 1 | Documentary Central Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 [Music] do you know something there's nearly 7 billion humans settled all over this little [Music] planet but now for the first time ever more than half of us are living in cities without anyone even noticing it mankind has evolved into an urban species things will never be the same again
• 00:30 - 01:00 [Music] welcome to Lagos the largest city in Nigeria and one of the new breed of mega cities of 10 million people and more which are busy taking over the [Music] world 60 years ago less than 300,000 people lived here and everyone used to say Lagos was gorgeous now it's more like 16 million and most people would agree it's
• 01:00 - 01:30 suffering from a few Growing [Music] Pains but despite its reputation for corruption and poverty Lagos is not all like that you know these people will show you what ghetto life is really like Slender you have oil in your village and come to my area we have oil they've learned to be smart resourceful they're hust because here nothing is
• 01:30 - 02:00 wasted and everything is an opportunity and you better watch out because people here are already adapting to the extreme Urban future far more successfully than anyone in the so-called developed [Music] world
• 02:00 - 02:30 if you want an example of everything that's fantastic about the people here then this is the place to start olasan rubbish D now this definitely isn't the prettiest part of the city and it smells just as bad as it looks but you know what where you see filth and rubbish the Scavengers see a livelihood
• 02:30 - 03:00 [Music] while people in the Western World agonize about the best ways to deal with the waste they produce these guys just get on with recycling it anything and everything which can be used again is sold for reprocessing that's 3,000 tons of rubbish which is expertly filtered by hand every day keeping more than 5,000 people in regular employment
• 03:00 - 03:30 well my name is Eric auu AKA Voca slender from Lagos Nigeria we are in the dumb site you can see now the people the Scavengers are following the bus to select some scrap from the refuges and very soon I'm joining [Music] them you see what I'm doing I'm selecting
• 03:30 - 04:00 I'm selting with the iron I'm selecting the robber I'm going to another vehicle Eric was born in Lagos 28 years ago he grew up on the streets but like lots of the people who choose to work on the dump he isn't what he appears this one is expensive plastic [ __ ] he's a singer and musician and has Ambitions to become a major recording artist all the money he earns as a scavenger is going towards finishing his WB CD and every scrap he finds brings
• 04:00 - 04:30 him one step closer to his goal I have some perfume container here and I need it it's expensive it's one 10 Na and by his grace I see another one now my bag is a little bit heavy so I going to turn it turn it down to I have it so come along
• 04:30 - 05:00 this week I have to work extremely hard because I need money I need money for myself first of foremost I need money to go to the studio to mix my song the song I want to promote I need money to take my picture short and I need money to buy at least one or two T-shirts I'll be using for the picture shot that's why I need to work so hard this week like most of the Thousand or so
• 05:00 - 05:30 scavengers Eric doesn't just work on the dump during the week he sleeps here too in a house which he made for himself from things he found lying [Applause] around see this our C this where if I'm not if I'm not going to AIG where is my home this why I sleep and we
• 05:30 - 06:00 have a mosquito night get of the mosquito see how do it after work comes time for showering now what we are doing we are all friends here we live as one family now we about to take our [Music] shower
• 06:00 - 06:30 it's incredible what's happened at this dump 18 years ago it was just a big hole in the ground now it's like a city within the mega City everything the Scavengers need is here shops restaurants bars three Cinemas a mosque even a Barbers some people never leave
• 06:30 - 07:00 and you know what's the most amazing thing about it all this is just a stone throw away from the state government buildings and yet most people don't even know it [Music] exists and it's not just scavengers who work here some people have set up permanent businesses like this guy Joseph who has been a buyer here for the
• 07:00 - 07:30 last 12 [Music] years sleepers unborn copper aluminum brass zinc battery all things this is what I buy this is what I'm dealing on [Applause] now our business is just like the stock market the price of my business here depend on dollar when the dollar is down the price goes down when the dollar is
• 07:30 - 08:00 up the price goes up the only difference between me and the people that works in the stock market is only the suit and the tie and the fine shoes I'm checking if this is brass or zinc that's what I'm [Music] doing this brass
• 08:00 - 08:30 I have to put my umbrella Joseph sells in bulk to buyers from the reprocessing factories but most of his time he spent buying small amounts of scrap from the [Music] scavengers
• 08:30 - 09:00 that's what I'm saying if you give him all the money he not give me my own change he will say next time I will use it to sell Market to me so it's better he give me my change now before I complete his morning so he's gone looking for change can't you see that you're a good
• 09:00 - 09:30 man man you know because he has cheat me that's why I'm good man most of the money Joseph earns goes on renting a one room apartment for him and his family 10 minutes walk away from the dumpsite what don't touch please don't
• 09:30 - 10:00 touch what's wrong with you I told you not to touch okay this is me Joseph A and my family the person behind me but what now this my beautiful wife and this is the future Miss World Hallelujah this is wonderful ah sneeze
• 10:00 - 10:30 yes the dump hasn't just provided Joseph with his livelihood for the past 12 years he met his wife Elizabeth there too she was selling food and they fell in love even the room they live in with their two children peace and patience is almost entirely furnished with things he's brought home from work you know all these rich people that don't like to conserve things we are the D there eat from the crumbs of people's table
• 10:30 - 11:00 this sandwich bread sandwich it's working nothing was wrong with it this is a radio touch light it wasn't working found it there I reped and it's working at the thump fi glasses it's working the teddy the teddy is from the thumb side I bought it from the down side my baby loves Tedd you love like this Tedd
• 11:00 - 11:30 [Music] one month from now little patients here will be a year old and Elizabeth wants to throw her a big party but Joseph is going to have to work extra hard to pay for it and that means a lot more time spent at work what is important is love for your family is what drives you to walk extra
• 11:30 - 12:00 mile you know that's why I'm walking in a dump even if I see another place that is stinkier than that dump and I will get more money I will go there and walk just to be able to make sure my family enjoys [Music] life [Music]
• 12:00 - 12:30 as the sun goes down and the night falls and you can see the light spread out for 40 miles it's easy to forget the city's problems but you know what it never lasts long despite being in one of the biggest oil producing countries in the world the power still goes off in Lagos every single day
• 12:30 - 13:00 uh what see this is the way I do it every night there is no light we have got used to we have gotten used to it so it's not a new thing to us we know how to change our lives when there's no light you fix all this one and you be seen everything that is Nigerian Factor when you don't have light you don't put anything except you
• 13:00 - 13:30 you go and buy the small generator those small like you can hear the sound of one my backyard if you don't have the money for that stay like this it's better that's Nigeria for you on
• 13:30 - 14:00 [Music] if the dump is at one end of the food chain then this place the olani Scher cattle market and Slaughter yard is at the other it's where most of the meat that feeds this hungry City comes in as Lagos has grown bigger and bigger so more and more herders from all over West Africa have been drawn here today another 500 cows have just arrived
• 14:00 - 14:30 ambala from Cameroon abore from southern Sudan kurri from Chad and the market thrives because every one of these cows supports hundreds of people each getting a very small piece of the action just enough to live on from the cattle dealers to the meat sellers The Butchers to the cow [Music] Wranglers
• 14:30 - 15:00 look how very well check very well you understand check very well Muhammad here is a successful cattle broker when he first arrived in Lagos 10 years ago he was a herdsman from the bush who only spoke fani now he speaks five different languages and people from all over West Africa trust him to sell their
• 15:00 - 15:30 cows I am one of the main traders that one is thing that usually convince customers that they feel like they are having a hand shap with a big man having something to do with a big man so that one usually convince them this morning Muhammad and his team are in the middle of negotiating a sale to one of the biggest customers in the market the buyer from Mr Bigs fast food
• 15:30 - 16:00 chain he presently increased now he has gone to rly 105 and we expecting if can come an increase at this one one is not something that we can just agree with any price that he PR we have to continue pressing him now it's a constant movement he came back roughly five times to come
• 16:00 - 16:30 back but he one of the Bigg customer that's why we recognize him because he can buy all and he'll be back soon can you see him there coming check out look your back see him there coming now thank you very much thank you very much just like that 20 cows are sold for 107,000 naira each thank you in each cow I have 100 n that is the
• 16:30 - 17:00 normal thing that is each cow I have 100 n this is a very good day for me before you know everything have been sold and I am free and what a nice day yes is very sweet to me more than any other business that you can see this the most nice moment for me to have a big customer and buy it at once and I will go and relax now from now it's just to go and B and have my own phone nice time
• 17:00 - 17:30 as soon as the deal is done the buyer's cows are led to the slaughter slab just a few yards away where another Army of people take over each making a living out of one particular part of the animal if you want to know how 16 million people get fed here every day then this place will give you a good idea the process is the complete animal if it come into this Slaughter here right now and the first thing that will be soled is the digestive
• 17:30 - 18:00 system after everything have been removed now it will be divided into Parts like that so nothing is wasted uh the Hoops you see [Applause] there uh you can see the woman she will take the head now where they remove the skin so some people even prefer this particular meat instead of any meat in the cow they prefer the skin St the legs of the head that is the normal
• 18:00 - 18:30 [Music] thing the only bit of the cow that is thrown away is its hair the Hooves get sold to shoe makers the horns get turned into plastics for TV sets and even the content of the cow's stomach is sold for fertilizer everything here makes money for someone
• 18:30 - 19:00 I'm fing blood after we fesh the blood we cook it then we dry it in the sun after dry we bag it then we s it Gabriel first came here 10 years ago straight out of agricultural College he saw that all the blood from the cows was being washed away into the river and he realized it spotted a gap in the market straight away way he set himself up with a little business processing
• 19:00 - 19:30 animal feed it's in the syllabus they tisue in the Agri science saw this the blood me is there to form the meal of Agri chickens so many people did not know what they're using it for the cutting of the tire that's fresh processing in cooking of the blood you need a lot of eat before you can done so that's why you cannot use
• 19:30 - 20:00 very soon now be changing the color will be changing from red to Brown either animal or man the final stage of of blood is black see a very stressful work a very stressful work the heat of the tire the heat of the fire toring you I like something hard I like AR job that's just my policy my opinion so I love doing it
• 20:00 - 20:30 that's [Music] it Gabriel processes more than 30 barrels of blood like this each week and is hoping to expand his operation to meet the growing demands of the [Music] city all across Lagos you'll find millions of others like Gabriel people who are found in genus ways to make money and who are pursuing it for all
• 20:30 - 21:00 their worth a few become wealthy but the vast majority earn just enough to live on but against all the odds they've turned Lagos into a city of opportunity full of entrepreneurs resourceful energetic and extremely [Music] optimistic [Applause]
• 21:00 - 21:30 jeans jeans woman jeans you can buy for your wife see my wife Eric and Joseph have been trading with each other for years and although they wouldn't admit it they become good friends about I want to steal josepher honest Joseph coer coer you see he's a wrestler how buy now 380
• 21:30 - 22:00 380 don't 400 both men come from the same part of the country the oil Rich Southeast but Joseph belongs to the ebo tribe who have a reputation for being the canniest businessman in Nigeria you can't buy anything cheap From Slender he's he said the highest you can see they give him space people
• 22:00 - 22:30 don't come close to his where he keeps his stops see everybody everybody doesn't sell 1550 he sell from 100 150 upward nothing he's he's more greater than than the EOS even he is an EO man but this one doesn't know where he comes from EOS are good people they are wise people they deal in business they know how to do business not this kind one me from Niger we are kind people not that
• 22:30 - 23:00 we are not greedy but we are not greedy like e slender do you have oil in your village in very close to my Village in your village do you have oil no you have oil in your village very close to my Village you have oil very close too come to my area we have oil no oil in your T you have you have University in your area we have we have we have poly Technic but in your in your village yes in ag a po Technic you don't belong to AB people yeah I'm an AB now
• 23:00 - 23:30 go please go go and see your grandma your grandma wants to see you your grandma wants to see you the end of the week is here and everyone who works in the business district is trying to get out of the 12m long traffic jam on the Miracle of engineering that is the third Mainland Bridge [Music]
• 23:30 - 24:00 on the dump though the commute isn't such a big [Music] problem over at the Promised Land Cafe where Eric eats most of his meals the owner Auntie Anne is getting ready for her usual Friday Night Rush
• 24:00 - 24:30 I'm frying myomo used to call it we have a very nice taste Madam it's food ready you can see I've smok enough I need to eat so now they very tough and so nice also when I started coming newly in the mid it was so difficult to understand them
• 24:30 - 25:00 every day that is fighting quing they will eat they will not pay so gradually gradually I continue study their ways so within a month to two months now we are friends I love them and they love me so much Erica has been working so hard all week that he's saved enough to be able to spend a few days on his music
• 25:00 - 25:30 career but before he heads off into the outside world he needs to smarten up everything is on the dump you know after walking our finger get dirty it's not good to take the debt to back home so we needs people like this to clear the fingers this is where you can see the unity of Nigeria manifestation among the poor ghetto
• 25:30 - 26:00 people who walk in the slum who walk in the dump we all speak with one voice is the one who make my finger to be clean see how clean they are okay you have look at my brother look at my a good
• 26:00 - 26:30 I'm very very hungry and I need to eat some food after had day work so I need to eat my food my food is so Surplus because after I had day work I need to eat to to regain my stamina mama my food I can't say it's the best food inos but
• 26:30 - 27:00 the whole is the best food in O yes no food contest I am a I am a who I am a Nigerian hi I am a I am a what I am a Nigerian a few miles from the dump is one of the most Lively ghettos in Lagos a gley over the years this place has become the
• 27:00 - 27:30 center of the Nigerian music industry and many of its biggest stars have started out from around here I am a Nigerian I am am Eric's been saving for this day for 3 months and now he's finally got the 15,000 naira he needs to hire a studio get his band together and finish the last track on his demo CD SP the D producer
• 27:30 - 28:00 [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] the song is all about it's more more our Nigerian dialect it's like I'm rich now money is I have this money that money is food I have this money so full in my pocket that the money I'm swelling with
• 28:00 - 28:30 money I have dollar pounds youo Yen France fany Dutchman I have I have them have the Surplus with me now Champions yeah man this one the chion M Mone money to [Music] spend to plenty plenty [Music]
• 28:30 - 29:00 they don't know I working the D people my friends they don't know that M Avengers they believe I just do music and I want to keep it that way so I have I have regard when talking with my friends I'm working harder so harder to
• 29:00 - 29:30 become some in future so I know sooner or later God will put a smile on my face and my soul will become [Music] Joy Eric doesn't do things by Hales no sooner has he finished recording his song than he's off to spend his last 4,000 naira on getting the photos done for the CD sleeve after this he'll be back to being stoned cold
• 29:30 - 30:00 [Music] broke no all the the thing go pieces While most people in Legos are out parting on Saturday night Joseph is working overtime at the dump burning copper wire to remove the plastic coatings the PVC chemical is very hazardous to
• 30:00 - 30:30 health so when burning it like this you have to go from far away from it the government doesn't want to see fire around it has been banned in the day time to burn anything like C anything any that they want to do have to do it in the night CU it's my business if I don't do nobody will do it for me so I have to feel the heat wow
• 30:30 - 31:00 [Music] Joseph's daughter's birthday is just 3 weeks away and he's decided to work more and more late nights so we can afford to give her the best party possible you see my own childhood sometimes I don't want to talk about it because it makes me cry you know my mother left me when I was two or 3 months just she just just left she has qu with my my father and she
• 31:00 - 31:30 left that was it she never looked back since then they said polygam family father has two three wives four so you know what the wives would do cannot leave their own children and start taking care of another woman's child then you start going from one Auntie to the other one brother to the other it's like you are serving as a slave or house help
• 31:30 - 32:00 oh it's [Music] awful there differ between motherly love and someone takes care of you when it's cold like maybe it's rain know how your mother will cuddle you hold you and use clo to wrap you nobody did that nobody's going to call you but nobody will call you what called me just left me to [Music]
• 32:00 - 32:30 die this is water to put off the fire don't do it like this you will lose the whole damn thing the next day there's trouble among the
• 32:30 - 33:00 Scavengers a man who's recently arrived from the north has been caught helping himself to someone else's collection of iron to sort out problems like this the Scavengers have formed their own kind of government with this guy ero at the head
• 33:00 - 33:30 he's been a scavenger since he was a boy but now as they're elected chairman for the next 3 years whatever he says goes you look at this ID
• 33:30 - 34:00 so after this one I see you here kill you you [Music] don't in the end chair and ero banishes the scavenger from the dump never to
• 34:00 - 34:30 [Music] return he'll have to start again somewhere else but he's probably glad he got away without the police being called that's one of the many surprising things about the dump it looks like a rough Lawless dangerous place but it's actually quite the opposite no one locks their doors and everyone leaves their valuable scrap lying around by necessity the place
• 34:30 - 35:00 seems to run on trust and respect for one another and how many neighborhoods in the Western World can claim [Music] that man city with all the STS get they go win AR now
• 35:00 - 35:30 back in his Scavenging gear Eric's hustling like crazy to earn some money come but just as he gets going everything suddenly comes to a Hal
• 35:30 - 36:00 it's not easy I I came from house to work today and I came back I find fire in the dump and they says they stop every law man official stop everybody not to walk to be in the D let everybody find way of quenching the fire one of the hazards of working on the dump is that pockets of gas form under the deom composing rubbish and once they catch a light fires spread
• 36:00 - 36:30 very quickly go let's go as you can see it's not an easy fire the more we try to off the fire the more we have more Fire coming out I'm trying we have been trying we have been trying we have been trying to R the fire I can see I'm inside the fire working
• 36:30 - 37:00 two tank of water from the fire service cannot stop the fire from the dump and we are still expecting one more tank and after that maybe that's all they can give to us today it's not easy not easy I have to say thank you for coming to save the the boys working in the dump this is our job when we are called upon to do so we do we perform our official Duty [Music]
• 37:00 - 37:30 how are youy the law nobody should work that's why everybody's in this place and lot of the boys here are playing just to while distress of no working you no work to why are they B that's why you see our people here really
• 37:30 - 38:00 do as you can see the day is gone and the fire still burn a lot of people are tired they want to go and rest but no work today that doesn't mean we have to lose Loop but for the next 2 days fires keep springing up all over the dump and because it's the end of the dry season Everything Burns very easily until the fires go out no one can earn [Music]
• 38:00 - 38:30 anything saying how tiny they are they have been priced 100,000 this is really surprising you know every now and again lagos' insatiable appetite for raw materials comes
• 38:30 - 39:00 unstuck a Civil War in Chad has cut off one of the major supply routes to the market and there's a serious shortage of cattle how is the market today okay they never theice suddenly prices have gone through the roof and mahabad is having to deal with even more dirty tricks than usual to sell even one cow
• 39:00 - 39:30 [Music] PR
• 39:30 - 40:00 fortunately Gabriel doesn't have to deal with these endless negotiations he's finished processing this week's batch of blood and his regular buyer is coming to pay him so this is the last stage of the blood this is the ship how it look like so look
• 40:00 - 40:30 [Music] black so this is 86 Kil 94 K it say you multiply the 180 kilo time 28 naira 5,4 [Music] NAA [Applause]
• 40:30 - 41:00 [Music] [Applause] [Music] a week later the rains arrive just as the heat was becoming unbearable there's a whole new set of of problems to deal with flooding block drains overflowing
• 41:00 - 41:30 sewers and 16 million people who still need to get to [Music] [Music] work it is very lonely this morning cuz the whole family have gone
• 41:30 - 42:00 traveling gone [Music] away Hy because it rained Hy you must take H te inside the cold room I mean the cold weather
• 42:00 - 42:30 sorrya on the dump the arrival of the rains makes life a whole lot harder and smellier for everyone anytime there season in the dump everything get messed up go new buyers most of the customers are afraid of the way because they get wet and it get cold so during the only season the D side is very
• 42:30 - 43:00 horrible no no no don't that one come no no give me white white now what you shoot no okay okay I give you the white I give you the
• 43:00 - 43:30 white no they do like that I beg me I go first for the bag but my I was not fast enough then the boy was fast and he take it love me let go pass
• 43:30 - 44:00 you in these competitive conditions some of the Scavengers prefer to work at night when things are a bit calmer the trucks keep coming 24 hours a day so if you prepare to take the risk you'll have the pick of the crop very small time I will come to your walk if you have come to to the walk so tomorrow morning I will close many
• 44:00 - 44:30 people that come to the buy our Market in the morning I like walk in the night because people not much not only shouting it's very [Music]
• 44:30 - 45:00 can what in there there what you that
• 45:00 - 45:30 [Applause] [Music] sorry across town in aun the sound systems which switch on after dark are beginning to get Lively and Tonight Eric
• 45:30 - 46:00 has managed to hustle himself a slot on one of the biggest stages thing to put it on the radio station the only who can make money the more the music is is popular in the street the more the marketers start looking for
• 46:00 - 46:30 [Music] you but to get your song on the radio you need to convince the DJs in all the bars and clubs to play it first this is the start of a very long night for Eric
• 46:30 - 47:00 new spreads very fast around here and by morning everyone's talking about Eric but it's not good news at the end of his
• 47:00 - 47:30 night out trouble started and one of his workmates a scavenger kazim ended up in hospital Eric has been charged with assault I never really expected this to happen to me I was coming back to come and sleep in the dump so I can start my work the next day then this boy kazim called me Slender Slender we was arguing arguing and to fight before I know they
• 47:30 - 48:00 used B on my head they break my head with botle I fought but I was fought fighting some people one of my friend was holding kazim Dan was injuring kazim I never knew kazim was that badly injured before we know they bring police and the police arrested me I don't want to go to
• 48:00 - 48:30 G kazim has ended up in hospital and is in danger of losing one of his eyes the other scavengers involved in the fight of run away leaving Eric to face the music on his own chairman ero is going to have to sort this out both of them are my member we used to walk hand in hand they just like my boys so when they run you to this problem you know as anly somebody I cannot be happy I'm very very sad thank
• 48:30 - 49:00 you you I overact I you must Lear I believe you never get experience before thank you but this thing make you get full this one too much this one too much no
• 49:00 - 49:30 police say this place I'm so ashamed of myself very very as I talk to you I look my life my age POS until they get out of court they before he can
• 49:30 - 50:00 start to us he has ruined that guy's life block off his one of his eyes you've killed him already see I have something that makes me to come out here I have family I have a I have a wife and two kids I have to look after them now but because he has no wife no kid that's why he's living a Carefree life go about drinking you know
• 50:00 - 50:30 destroying things we're not happy with him we're not happy with him it's like he staying on a white clo black stain and a white blood at least Joseph has got something to look forward to after a lot of hard work and late nights he's called in his big buyers from the reprocessing factories
• 50:30 - 51:00 godamn now he's been scared by the buyers of the Soul that's what they see in the scampering you know it's like a festival see the way they close around because they are going to get some money from their job steady steady 113 eh something here I tell you 117 now morning morning salt copper Sal
• 51:00 - 51:30 aluminium going to be over one ton thank God I will dance like a genie you see money makes you happy when you have some changes you dance like Indians dance like Indian happy birthday de you happy birthday to
• 51:30 - 52:00 you happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday PA is 1 years old today and
• 52:00 - 52:30 she today we are doing Patience by day we cook rice we have rice we have cake biscuits book pencil and sweet she's a good girl I want her to be a great someone I can't shoot for her she shoot by herself anything wish to do I allow to do
• 52:30 - 53:00 [Music] it coming out another [Music] one this is not
• 53:00 - 53:30 [Music] [Applause] [Music] easy [Music] play [Music]
• 53:30 - 54:00 [Applause] [Music] the person that lives in Lagos here is very witty wise person you have to be wise here you're not wise here nowhere in the world you are never going to be wise again [Music]
• 54:00 - 54:30 [Music] if you travel abroad from Lagos people there will know that you are wise because you going to teach them things they don't know that is the live in Lagos is a great place to live it's my look [Music]
• 54:30 - 55:00 [Music] up the Lord I us tension this tension in me there no need to be afraid don't be
• 55:00 - 55:30 afraid they don't just crucify people in the court the court is a place where you get Fair hearing everyone knows that the legal system in Lagos moves slower than the traffic on its third Mainland bridge and after a month with no work Eric is only just having his first court appearance his only way to get out of years of proceedings will be to settle out of court with kaz's family but kaz's brother is in no mood
• 55:30 - 56:00 for negotiating I'm please look at him look at him he nearly died he has lost one of his eyes totally the second one is under probability now it cannot walk anymore in his life can you imagine that never take this thing it's not easy I can see that the guy is so angry very very angry so I don't know what to say I pray God after
• 56:00 - 56:30 this I will never be in trouble in my life anymore is there any discussion with the family you let them know what you can afford and what you cannot do okay at the end of the day we will arrive at a compromise all right thanks God bless you thanks and save you from prison amen amen
• 56:30 - 57:00 in the end it's not the courts or the lawyers which solve Eric's problems but the dump boys when Kim's family start demanding millions in compensation chairman ero decides it's time to step in only only 5 5 million Within days chairman ero has organized the whip round from everyone on the dump to pay off kaz's hospital
• 57:00 - 57:30 bills once that's done the family are happy to accept a more manageable 300,000 naira from Eric after 5 weeks of banishment Eric is finally allowed back on the dump so this incident that happened to kazim I'm sorry for it I'm looking forward to set you everything and come back to the dump because the dump have been good good to me and fine to me CH at his current rate it will take Eric
• 57:30 - 58:00 5 years to pay off his 1200 debt a better deal get the Rhythm on 93.7 unless of course his music takes off first chion sser and right now Eric songs are being played on radio stations all over the mega City
• 58:00 - 58:30 Eric and the others are just a few of the people who have been drawn to a city which is expanding at a rate of 600,000 every year next you're invited to take a trip into the ghetto where many of the newcomers end up lagos' own version of Venice called makok there's no order if you sit here the water will wash it away so you cannot get all the everything is clean
• 58:30 - 59:00 that's why we love [Music] [Music] it passing me what passing
• 59:00 - 59:30 me